


They Don't Know About Us

by vbe



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, POV Teddy Lupin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-16 07:30:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19313494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vbe/pseuds/vbe
Summary: When Teddy agrees to be James' fake boyfriend (to protect him, obviously, not because he, like, likes him), he doesn't expect to actually fall for the guy. Or: It Started With A (Purity) Ring.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first published fan fiction! I do write in the present tense, or at least try to, so I apologize for any descrepencies there. I might tag this as slow-burn but honestly they'll probably fuck after a week of fake dating, so ! Who knows.

Teddy is a favors man.

He's not a pushover, exactly, but he feels like he owes something to the people around him for raising him. He'll blush when Molly Weasley pinches his cheeks and thanks him for helping out with whatever chore of the week, but he isn't going to stop helping out his friends, his family, if they ever mamage to sincerely convince him that they'd done it out of love and not necesity.

The Potter's are popular with his services. Harry is his main father figure, so Teddy hadn't batted an eye when the man had asked him to use his maternally given skills and turn into an almost exact replica of Sirius Black. Teddy had also agreed not to tell anyone about how Harry had held onto him, how he'd cried, how not even a month later he'd gotten a divorce and a new boyfriend (who also happened to be Teddy's cousin, but whatever).

Albus' favors were more simple. Explaining 'gay stuff' to him, though, was not. Teddy would rather by the young boy alcohol or whatever the fuck kids are doing these days than have to explain rimming to him again.

Even Lily would force--okay, ask and Teddy happily obliged--Teddy to take her to her stores, to her museums, to wherever her father had promised but then fucked off to France with his now-husband instead.

Ginny's have been, by far, the worst. Her most recent has had Teddy avoiding the Potter-Weasley clan for a few weeks. "Don't break his heart," she had said with no explanation after a Sunday night dinner. Teddy had been looking at James, watching him attempt to shotgun a butterbeer.

"What?" Teddy had laughed, turning to her. She had looked tired, worn out from parenting two kids (and James) while her ex-husband was still fucking around Europe with a man who had tortured her during her school years. Bygones be bygones, Teddy supposes.

Ginny hadn't elaborated, so here Teddy is, spending his Wednesday with James for the third month in a row. Coincidentally, three months had passed since he'd come back from Romania and seen James at his first family get together since leaving Hogwarts.

"Can I ask you a favor?"

Teddy bites back a groan. They're sitting in between his couch and coffee table in his smaller than life apartment, backs against the couch and feet under the table that holds their beers. "What could I possibly do for you, Jim?"

"First," James says, the shadow of a smile on his face. "My name is James, learn it. Second, I need you to be my boyfriend."

Teddy, who had been sipping his beer mere seconds ago, chokes. James watches, wide eyed, as Teddy does something between a nervous and a confused laugh, all while trying to clean beer off of himself. "Excuse me?"

"No need to get so excited," James says. He sits up, digs around his pockets before pulling out a folded up piece of paper. "Gerry said it'd be good for my image."

Teddy actually does groan this time. In an attempt to seem more adult, James had gotten himself a manager the second he'd been signed to Puddlemere. Gerald, or Gerry, is sleazy, but he's the best money can buy, if the Potter-Weasley clan is involved. "Oh, if Gerry says, then it ought to be good."

James uses the coffee table to leverage himself onto the couch, spreading the paper out on his lap. "I just need something stable so that nobody's hounding me about girlfriends or, ah, illicit activities."

Teddy grimaces. He's heard about things that happen in the quidditch world, of course, mostly from Ginny. When James had first gotten signed she'd personally threatened half of the team, not that James knows that, of course. "Why me?"

James blushes. "Because it's believable."

"Christ," Teddy mutters. All he needs is for the world to think he and James have been a thing before he'd turned 18 last year. "I...James, I'd do anything for you, man, but..."

James frowns, folds his paper back up. "Oh, it's fine. Gerry has Cecil McLaggen on retainer."

"Give that to me," Teddy mutters, pulling himself up onto the couch and reaching for the paper. It's legal paper, almost laughable that James had folded it in such a manner. "So, what? I'd be your house-wife?"

James shakes his head, pointing to one of the points on the page. "You'd just...be my boyfriend, I guess. Until I, like, get a real one or something." James nervously laughs, snatching his beer off of the coffee table. 

"And, uh, who would know? That it isn't real, I mean."

James gestures openly to the paper. "You, me, Gerry. Your tongue would literally be tied."

Teddy's too drunk for this. His head is spinning, revolving around three things. One, that James is 18. Two, that Harry and the rest of the family would actually believe they're dating. Three, that even the sober part of him isn't completely against it. "You're..." he trails off, looking at James.

James smiles. "I'm of age, Tedward."

"What are you going to make me do next, wear a skirt? It seems a bit perverted."

"Only a pervert would think of that, Ted," James laughs. 

"Fuck you."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

It's playful banter, right?"

"Oh, quit being so juvenile."

"But you'd like that, wouldn't--" James is cut off by the scratching of a quill as Teddy signs the contract, every last line that Gerry had marked with his stupid muggle highlighters.

When Teddy moves to hand the papers back to James, the younger man is holding a ring out to him. An identical one rests on his left hand. "Woah, where's the priest?"

James punches his arm. "Shut up, it's a promise ring."

Teddy smirks, taking the cheap metal from James. "Will you also be taking me to the Yule Ball?"

"I'll take it back if you want my dad thinking that we're fucking every Wednesday night when I leave the house."

Teddy slips the ring on without another word.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't re-read this and it was written days apart so again....bear with me. Thanks for, uh, reading the first chapter!

Gerry'd leaked it to the press right away, the bastard. James hadn't really elaborated, to be fair, but Teddy had expected to be able to tell their family and friends before Rita Skeeter wrote a three page article analyzing every public reaction James and Teddy have had since James graduated (at least, Teddy thinks, they haven't gone before he'd turned 18).

Teddy had called in sick to work, not wanting to face the guys at the reserve today, especially not Charlie. The relentless teasing is going to be worse than Charlie thinking he's dating James, though. Once Ginny gets a hold of him he's done for.

Teddy's splayed out on his couch, wearing a ratty old t-shirt and some old shorts with the Hufflepuff crest embellished on them. Crumbs of whatever he had for lunch litter his self and his surroundings, along with shame in the air. Shame that he'd let himself get into this situation, mostly, but with a splash of is-it-really-that-bad-of-a-situation? 

A quick tempus tells him that it's near seven. He's spent over half a day sulking over a fake relationship and the relatively well written article it had inspired. Day one, complete. He's about to get up, get ready for bed so that he can actually go to work in the morning, when the floo roars to life. Teddy jumps, his head hitting the edge of the coffee table as he goes down.

"Oh shit, Teddy," James exclaims as he comes through the fireplace. He takes his time dusting himself clean before helping Teddy, whose head is now bleeding, back onto the couch. "Do you need, like, a band-aid?"

Teddy is already pulling out his wand, casting a simple spell he's picked up after years of working with dragons. "Some of us aren't still under the trace."

"Oh, ha ha," James deadpans, but he's blushing. Teddy has picked up on how little the 18 year old uses magic, and has correctly chalked it up to him simply forgetting that he's of age, even nearly a year and a half later. "Are you wearing that?" he asks, looking Teddy up and down.

Teddy looks down at himself, analyzes his mess. Forehead blood now accompanies the crumbs on his shirt, and more than a few embarrassing stains cover his shorts. "To bed? No."

"Right." James wanders off towards Teddy's bedroom and returns a few moments later with clothes he must have dug out of Teddy's muggle dryer, if the wrinkles have any say on the subject. "Put these on, we're already late."

Teddy catches the jeans and flannel he's thrown. "To what?" Has he forgotten yet another family dinner?

James rolls his eyes, makes a gesture that Teddy reads as rude before realizing he's gesturing to the dinky little promise ring on his finger. Teddy's own lays on his finger, still there from yesterday. "Me and the mates get drinks Thursdays before matches."

Teddy closes his eyes, leans his head back. "And you need a floozy on your arm for this why?"

"Gerry put it in the contract, not me."

Teddy is going to read the next contract he signs, he swears. "Fucking, give me a minute."

James does, but not without rushing. Teddy barely has time to shower and pull on the outfit James had picked out before he's being pushed into his own fireplace, his hand linked with James', James muttering reminders into his ear as they're traveling at god knows how many kilos per hour. 

Teddy hasn't read enough romance novels or been in enough relationships, whichever matters more, to know how to act with someone he knows on a lowly intimate level but is pretending to know on a medium intimate level. James' teammates are drunk enough to notice he's there, to jab at James as they sit down together in a booth with some chasers, to point out their stupid matching rings.

It's surprisingly easy for Teddy, who hasn't been in a real relationship in years, to slip back into the boyfriend role, though. To get James a new drink when his is empty (which is a dangerous amount of times). To wrap his arm around the shoulders of someone he's known since he was six years old. To endure the taunts of James' friends. He almost has an easier time at it than he had with Vic, who he'd actually dated.

"Pretend I said something funny," James whispers to Teddy, barely heard over the sound of the rest of the Leaky Cauldron. His breath is hot on Teddy's neck.

Teddy manages a convincing chuckle, drawing the attention of one of James' friends--a beater, Teddy thinks. "Save it for the bedroom, boys."

Another teammate laughs, waves her hand towards Teddy's, which is intertwined with James' over his shoulder. "It'll be a while."

James flips them off, flashing the purity ring along the way. Teddy wonders if Cecil McLaggen would have gotten one if he'd agreed to the contract, though he doesn't have to worry as much about his father. Had James picked them out himself? Is it even believable to anyone who knows James that he'd be one to believe in the waiting-til-marriage bullshit? 

"Is it okay if I go?" Teddy mutters to James at quarter to ten. He kind of has to work tomorrow, unlike James' noon practice. 

James holds up one finger. Teddy watches as James makes his way around, managing to say good bye to everybody without pausing to talk too much. He comes back for Teddy, who says his own good byes to the people he'd been talking to, all of whom wink or smirk at him. 

"Come on," James mutters, rolling his eyes. He extends his hand, drags Teddy towards the floo. Somebody from their corner of the room whistles, a camera flashes. Fucking Gerry.

"Are you cool if I crash here?"

Teddy blinks at him. He's fully aware that Harry had wandered back into London a week ago, tanned from France, Draco Malfoy on his arm. Ginny would surely notice that James hadn't come home, and Harry's auror skills would also notice the lack of his oldest son in his house. But James is an adult, they shouldn't question it. 

Apparently he's taking too long, because James is already making himself at home on the couch. He knows Teddy's apartment almost better than Teddy does, has blankets that Teddy wasn't even aware existed, has a spare toothbrush on his person. The little shit planned this. 

James is still on the couch when Teddy comes out to use his floo the next morning. He'd lost his (Teddy's) shirt in the night, along with most of the blankets, and lays spread out like a starfish. His muscles are toned from the past few months of training, so much so that Teddy has to avert his eyes in order to get to work on time. Hard to explain to his boss, James' god damn uncle, that he's late because he was oggling a sleeping 18 year old.

Charlie, surprisingly, doesn't bring it up. He's only up here to get the reserve started, is set to head back to Romania at the start of the new year, so he's working with the other trainers to get shit done. He doesn't have time for family drama, Teddy supposes.

At lunch, though, Teddy's luck runs out. "You don't need to come in Saturday," Charlie says, focusing more on his sandwich that Teddy.

Teddy sets his own lunch down. "Saturdays are kind of my thing, man." He likes when he's the only one out in the cool morning, working with the dragons. 

"Oh. I just figured you'd like to go and watch James."

Teddy flushes. He's missed all of James' previous matches due to work, had planned on skipping once again this weekend (even if Gerry had to rip him from the reserve). "Shut the fuck up."

Charlie laughs. "Ginny is going to have you by the scrotum."

Teddy winces at the images that brings on. "You think?"

"Well, maybe not until you're married," Charlie concedes, nodding at Teddy's left hand. "Never took you for the pure type."

Teddy opens his mouth to explain, but finds that he literally cannot. His body is restricting him from telling the truth. "Oh,well....you know." His open gesture doesn't help his case, and he puts his hands down.

"Just go to the match, kid."

So that's how Teddy ends up spending his Saturday. He'd written James, who responded that Gerry had reserved a spot in his family's box for Teddy, despite Teddy's objections to being packed in a room with people who might hate his guts at the moment.

Draco and Harry are the only ones in the box when he arrives. Even most of the civilian crowd has yet to arrive, but these two middle-aged men are filling the entire box with rapt sexual tension. Teddy clears his throat when he enters, hoping to interrupt whatever the two were about to do. 

Draco makes eye contact with Teddy, nods at him. Harry's reaction is more confused than his partner's, but he manages to fake excitement. "Teddy! Fancy seeing you here!"

Teddy grimaces, because they both know it's not. Harry may not read the prophet, but he's bound to know about his and James' 'relationship' (sins quotations on his end). "Hey, Harry. Draco."

Draco sniffs, turns towards the field. "Didn't know you were into quidditch, Edward."

Teddy wants to shoot back, /Didn't know you were into men/, but petulance isn't what they need right now. "I dabble in the sport sometimes."

Harry sits in his own chair, watching this exchange with a panicked look on his face. Teddy knows the one, it's the one he'd have when his kids would do anything that remotely made him the responsible adult in the situation. "Al should be here soon."

Harry forgets to mention that Albus happens to have the rest of his family with him, his mom and a spattering of cousins. Gerry also struts in when the match has already started, taking the seat in between Albus and Teddy and reaking of cologne. The whole gang is here.

"Here," Gerry says as the match is ending. James' team had caught the snitch and, with their 80-20 points already on the board, had won. The longest hour of Teddy's life, feeling Ginny's eyes on him when he's talking to Albus, over. "This'll give you access to the locker rooms." 

Teddy stares at the pass Gerry had just shoved into his hand. The Potter-Weasley-Malfoy crowd is clearing out, but Harry stays behind, with an annoyed looking Draco hovering near the exit. "Uh, why?"

Gerry gestures. "Like I fucking know, the kid told me to give it to you." His eyes shift to Harry, who looks amused, then back to Teddy. They convey a message, if Teddy is interpreting it correctly: they'll eat it up. He saunters out of the box, leaving the smell of his cologne behind.

"What a guy," Harry comments, making Teddy jump. He's still standing by his seat, avoiding joining Harry in the aisle. "Can we, ah, talk before you leave?"

Teddy feels like he's 12 and his grandmother had asked Harry to give him 'the talk' again. "Sure, yeah. Here?" His eyes flicker to Draco, who looks bored.

Harry's own eyes drift to the field, where reporters swarm the teams, Ginny included, though on the outside. "Preferably so."

"We could have him over for dinner," Draco suggests from his spot by the door. "Considering James still lives with you."

Teddy raises an eyebrow at 'you'. Draco should have said 'us', but maybe he's still denying his being with Harry despite the fact that they'd run off together, held hands throughout the entire game today. "I'm busy that night."

"We didn't give a night," Harry says, smiling. "Come on, I'm not going to kill you or anything, Ted."

Teddy feels as if though he's about to get killed. He's been in a fake relationship for less than three days with nothing to show for it but fear. "I'm sorry."

Harry laughs. "For what? I've done far worse than you have, son." Draco coughs. "It just would have been nice to know. About you and James, I mean. Ginny looked like she wanted to jump you."

Teddy once again looks to Draco, who has experienced similar things. The man looks unfazed. "Uh, I'd rather talk here. Now." If he was forced to sit through dinner with his cousin, his god-father, and his fake boyfriend, he'd implode.

"Ah, well. I'm not going to treat you any different than any of James' other partners, obviously. He's an adult, he can handle anything." He looks pointedly at Teddy during the last part. Teddy wants to die, to throw himself out onto the field. 

Teddy is vaguely aware that he's playing with the ring on his left hand, mostly in a subconcious way of showing Harry that look, Harry, nothing is happening. Just two guy friends with a label. Two bros being bros, you know. "Brilliant."

Harry moves to hug Teddy, but turns it into an awkward arm punch, the punch tells Teddy he's playful but also packs enough that Teddy remembers he's fake dating the son of an auror and the scariest woman he knows. "Don't think you've weasled your way out of that dinner, either."

Once they're gone, Teddy hurries down to the Puddlemere locker rooms. He's not sure why he rushes. The pressure from Harry's hand lingers, along with the uncomfortable air from, well, Draco. 

Most of the team has already cleared out, along with the reporters, save Ginny and the ever-present Rita Skeeter. Teddy stands awkwardly with the two, not sure what to actually do in this situation. He could go in, sure, but Skeeter would eat that up, and Ginny is right there. He could talk to either of them, really, but he'd rather watch Draco and Harry make eyes at each other.

James is the last to emerge, talking in a low voice to Gerry, who looks as greasy as he had up in the box. Teddy is surprised the guy hadn't fainted at the sight of a shower. "James," he calls, very aware of Rita Skeeter's quill scratching.

A look passes between the younger man and his manager before James is practically running up to Teddy to embrace him. "Kiss me," he mutters into Teddy's ear. His wet hair brushes Teddy's cheek as he pulls away, smiling knowingly.

Teddy doesn't hesitate. It feels natural, grabbing James' chin and pulling it up, pressing their lips together. James' lips are soft, taste like the strawberry chapstick he insists could cure dragon pox. Despite Teddy's doubts that James has much experience in this area, James puts on the performance of a life time. It's more intimate than any sex he has ever had, kissing James in this tunnel under the stadium. 

The scratching of a quill, the flash of a camera, Gerry sniffing, all bring Teddy back to the real world. He gently lets go of James' face, and his eyes scan the green ones staring back at him. James appears as if that's a normal occurence, as if they do it every day. According to their lie, they have. According to the rings on their fingers, nothing more.

Teddy can't help but look at Ginny. She herself is writing something down, but when she feels Teddy's eyes on her she meets them. The look on her face is almost identical to the one she'd given Teddy all those months ago. 

Teddy looks back at James, but he's already back to Gerry, discussing the match. Teddy finds himself staring at James' lips as he speaks, the lips that had just been against his, hesitantly but for sure there. 

"Just remember what I told you," Ginny says from behind him.

Teddy is fucked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write on my phone so sorry for any errors!! Also sorry for just any ! General mistakes! In plot! I don't re-read my work, so ! :-)

They don't talk about it. The kiss. Teddy's mouth on James'. It's splashed across the covers of nearly every wizarding sports magazine (and, oddly, a muggle one), but they go about their business like usual.

One major difference since The Incident (as Teddy has taken to calling it, because even thinking about the word 'kiss' has him blushing like a school boy) is that James has practically moved in with Teddy. Their normal Wednesdays still happen, along with Thursday pub nights and Saturday morning cross-country trips to Quidditch pitches. Teddy'll come home from work on Mondays or Tuesdays, though, and find James digging through his fridge. It's like having a roommate, if one were to pretend to date their roommate to attract sponsorship opportunities. 

They talk about everything else, though. Gerry and his greasy ways. James' career. Teddy's career and potential managing of the reserve. Harry's continuous invitations for dinner despite the fact that James occasionally lives with him and Draco. Anything but how much Teddy wants to repeat what they'd done outside the locker room that day.

Teddy enters his foyer, grocery bags in his hands. He had opted to get them the muggle way and now regrets it, having had to walk two miles with six bags in hand. He can hear James shuffling around and calls out a hello.

James enters the kitchen as Teddy is putting his levitating grocery bags away, sipping on one of the protein shakes he has taken to storing in Teddy's fridge. "Dad says we're to be at his place by 7."

Teddy apathetically turns to his kitchen clock. It's nearing half six. "No way out?"

James shakes his head. "No way out." His attention shifts to the boxes in Teddy's hands. "Didn't know you were a snacker, Tedward."

Teddy flushes. "They're actually for you."

"Oh." James leans on Teddy's counter, causing his t-shirt to ride up as he tilts his head back, downing the rest of his protein shake. Teddy has to look away to keep from staring at his, well, everything. "I can bring the rest of my belongings over tomorrow as well."

Teddy chuckles, shakes his head, does not look back at James. "You hang out here enough."

"Then why don't I actually move in?"

Teddy nearly slams his hand in a cabinet. "I--here?" he says, pointing stupidly to his kitchen sink.

"Preferably your spare bedroom, but yeah." 

Teddy turns back to the younger man, a thousand thoughts swirling through his mind. Most of them going back to that little bit of skin he'd seen on James' hip and imagining it on a grander scale. "Shouldn't we wait until after the wedding?" he jokes, not knowing what else to say.

"Come on, Teddy. Even without..." he waves his hand, as if all they're doing for his career can be wrapped up in one gesture. "We were going to move in together eventually."

Teddy vaguely remembers talking about that little detail on one of their Wednesday get togethers, drunkely planning their futures. "What would we do if we 'break up'?"

James laughs. "You're taking this too seriously, babe."

Teddy ignores the nickname, probably a one off thing, a habit picked up from no where. "Really? Because I'm lying to everyone in my life about dating you, James. We're about to sit down with your father and his boyfriend and pretend we're having a gay old time."

James isn't smiling anymore, in fact it looks like he's physically biting his tongue to keep from snapping. "You signed the contract, Teddy."

"What if I want to actually date somebody? What if I have to move for work?" Teddy is just ranting now. Nearly a month of fear flows out of him. The kiss had drawn up something in him that's been eating through his brain like bacteria, creating a James shaped hole in his head. 

"If you'd bothered to read the contract," James says slowly. "You'd know that you can drop out at any time. So if you're sick of me, speak now or forever hold your fucking peace." As an afterthought, he throws his ring at Teddy. It bounces off of his shoulder anticlimactically, hitting the ground with a soft clang. 

Teddy stares at the cheap metal on his kitchen floor. "We should get going, then."

James comes over, picks up the ring, stands up so that they're directly facing each other. "I'm sorry, I love you."

"I love you, too, James," Teddy mutters, knowing that neither of them are saying it in any way that isn't familial. "I'll be getting ready, then."

James seems aware of the little space he's left between them, too. "You do that," he says quietly, backing up slightly to let Teddy by.

When Teddy returns to his kitchen, dressed in attire he hopes Draco deems appropriate (blue hair aside), James is sitting on his counter, looking bored. "Let's go." 

Teddy frowns. They've never really fought before, if what they'd done back there can be called a fight. He has no clue how to deal with a non-perky James, a James who steps into the floo without forcing Teddy in at the same time. By the time Teddy is stepping onto the mantel at Grimmauld Place, his head is reeling. Fake relationships take more of a toll than they should, honestly.

Harry greets them both enthusiastically, explaining that Draco is in the kitchen. Teddy does a double take when they enter, because he'd assumed Harry had meant sipping wine, but Draco is full on cooking, 'kiss the cook' apron and all. Harry does exactly that, and James pretends to gag.

"What's he doing here?" James asks. Teddy is about to scold him, thinking he's talking about Draco, when he catches sight of Albus sitting at the dining table, looking like a kid on Christmas.

Harry turns as if he's only just now noticing his other son. "Oh. Albus is going back to Hogwarts tomorrow so I wanted him to have dinner with us."

"Two birds with one stone," Draco mutters from the stove. Harry reaches up to pinch his cheek and Draco swats his hand away.

James turns to Teddy, all of their animosity from the past hour gone as they share a knowing look. "Brilliant."

It's awkward at first, the five of them eating Draco's (admittedly delicious) curry. Albus had chosen to sit at the head of the table. Draco, oddly enough, takes the seat next to James, leaving Teddy to take the seat next to his god-father. It all feels planned out, as if Harry and Draco had decided that Teddy and James sitting next to each other was too risky for a get together.

"So," Albus starts, setting his spoon down. "Where's the ring?"

As one, the three outsiders turn to Teddy , and then James. The bastard had forgotten to replace the ring he'd thrown at Teddy. Teddy flushes, knowing he need not be embarrassed about his own (non-existant) sex life but also aware of Draco's smirk and Harry's focus on anything but the man next to him.

"This..." Teddy begins, tapping his bowl with his own utensil. "You're a good cook, Draco."

Draco smiles at him, and Teddy is surprised to find that it doesn't appear forced. "Thank you, Teddy." Teddy barely processes that he hadn't been called 'Edward'.

James sucks in a breath. He'd slipped both of his hands under the table, and Albus' grunt indicates that he's been kicked. "Well, if that's all--"

Harry's eyes finally move from the table to his eldest son. "We have yet to talk about this," he gestures to nothing, looking to Draco for moral support. "It would be nice to hear something that wasn't printed in a newspaper."

James isn't about to take charge, Teddy knows, so he kicks the bucket. "What do you want to know?"

"How did you guys...get together?"

Albus snorts into his water, earning him another kick. Teddy has a strong suspicion he's in on the facade somehow. "You aren't going to go running to the press?" he jokes, giving himself time to think, seeing as James isn't.

"No promises."

"Uh, well." Teddy looks subtlely at James, who has a panicked looknin his eyes. To his credit, he's managed to keep his own expression neutral, despite the rude gesture his brother is making. "We started hanging out a lot more once he graduated, you know. And something just, I dunno, clicked, I guess?" 

"Romantic," Draco says into his wine glass. James yelps as his father kicks him, a kick meant for Draco. Teddy hopes Kreacher doesn't happen to wander under their table turned dojo. 

James, glaring at his father, interjects. "I've been infatuated with the git since I was a kid. It just took him a while to feel the same way, obviously. I do hope you weren't expecting something more interesting." This last part is directed at Draco, who has his chin resting on his hand, looking glum.

"Any new living arrangements?" Harry asks, eyebrow raised.

Teddy speaks before James can. "James and I were actually planning on moving his stuff from Ginny's over the weekend."

It's James' turn to raise an eyebrow in Teddy's direction, to silently question his seriousness. Teddy smiles at him, wanting to reach out to him but not wanting to bring the attention back to the ring-less hand. James was right, he supposes. They were bound to move in eventually, under different pretenses. This just elevates those plans. 

After many more, far less grilling questions, Harry allows them to leave, finally deciding to prioritize his other son's final year at Hogwarts over his eldest child's relationship with his godson. James and Teddy practically run to the floo, calling out compliments for Draco's cooking and a reluctant thanks for the invitation.

"Were you serious?" James asks once they've settled back at Teddy' place. Despite it not being Wednesday, two bottles sit on Teddy's coffee table, well deserved after the trauma they've been put through.

Teddy leans back on his couch, wishing he were in any life but his own. He misses the days when his biggest problem was chaffing from his fireproof pants. "'bout you moving in? Sure."

"You don't have to, it isn't in the contract."

Fuck the contract, Teddy wants to say. Instead he says, "we're friends, James."

James' eyes are everywhere but Teddy. "I'm sorry I roped you into all of this."

Teddy waves him off, taking a sip of his beer (which, for the record, tastes better than the rare wine Draco had served earlier). "It's not like it's going to interfere with my love life." He laughs dryly.

James hums. "Considering there's a photo of us kissing on the front page of every major news source."

There it is. Public enemy number one, the subject that shall not be named, everything Teddy has been avoiding like a mature adult. "Yeah," he laughs, if only to lighten the mood. "Was that, ah, Gerry's idea?"

James blushes. "I kind of just wanted to fuck with my mum."

Teddy's aware that he's a prop in James' career path, a puppet being used by James and his management to keep up appearances and keep the public out of his hair. But James using him to piss off his mother feels wrong. Teddy pushes his grimace down, though, offers James a smile. "I think it worked."

"Well," James says, holding up his bare left hand. "Albus kind of fucked up this aspect of the gig."

Teddy had taken his twin ring off when they'd returned, handed it back to its owner. It's an odd feeling, ridding of an object he'd had for barely a month. "Hey, you're at fault, too."

"Sorry, but dad obviously doesn't care what we are or aren't doing." James digs his head into the side of the couch, looks up at Teddy. "I'm 18, not a damn first year."

Teddy knows that, has been trying to avoid acknowledging it for a while now. While James was technically legal his sixth year, Teddy wasn't about to allow himself to become attracted to a guy still in school. He still isn't, and James has already started his career. Something just felt inherently wrong, wanting to do more than playfully punch the other man, wanting to recreate their first and only kiss until they'd grow tired of that and move on. 

Instead of trying to summarize the mess in his head to a man barely experienced in the woes of adulthood, Teddy responds, "the less Draco thinks he knows, the better."

"Agreed."

They fall into a comfortable silence. Well, outwardly comfortable. Teddy is still reeling about the one kiss he's shared with the man sitting next to him. James is watching Teddy, so Teddy admires the artwork on his wall, the rings of condensation on his coffee table, anything that isn't the eighteen year old on his couch in their now shared living room.

They spend Saturday afternoon clearing out Teddy' guest room. James' match in Dublin earlier in the morning had been uneventful, seeing as most of the Potter-Weasley-Granger-Malfoy clan was off enjoying their time without the kids around, now that Hogwarts is up for the year. Gerry had even managed to miss the match, busy 'managing' (or, as James had kindly put it, getting drunk in his mum's basement).

James pauses more often than he actually moves something, usually to laugh at something of Teddy's or to order take out to the apartment. He'd raided a few of Teddy's holiday boxes for a custom grandma Weasley sweatshrit, and now lifts boxes in a golden sweater with a grey 'T' knit in the center. Along with the sweater he's collected Teddy's old head boy pin (proudly embellishing the sweater), a candle Vic had given him when they'd amicably 'become friends', and an old photo of the two of them in Diagon Alley, taken when Teddy was twelve and James was six.

Teddy closes the last box without help from James, making sure to comment on that aspect of the chore. James blows a mocking kiss at him, which he 'catches' and throws out the window. He'd opened it to let the late summer breeze in, but regrets it now, especially since someone is wearing one of the only sweaters he owns.

James heads off to shower, and Teddy contemplates moving the shit they'd moved from his spare to the living room. The couch is buried under old school stuff, dragonhide suits, and pans that Molly had promised he'd need but he's never actually used. He could clear the couch for James, who had forgotten his bed (suspicious--even more so than him forgetting literally all of his clothing and having to borrow Teddy's pajamas). Or he could 'forget' that he's a wizard and offer half of his queen size to James.

James appears while Teddy's still mulling it over, drying his hair with one of his own towels (of course he'd remembered those). His thoughts take the same rail as Teddy's. "Looks like I'll be sleeping with you tonight, babe." 

Their simultaneous lapse in memory leads to an awkward back and forth of, "Just sleeping, obviously"'s, "Platonically", and, Teddy's personal favorite, "Want to send Draco a picture of me in your bed?". Teddy opts not to get a camera, have James pose, find a muggle shop that still prints photos, and then personally ship Draco a copy, no matter how much he adores drama. And no matter how hard either of them don't try, the couch stays stacked, James' bed stays at his mum's place, and Teddy's bed remains the only sleep worthy spot in the flat.

Teddy decides to call it a night early in the hopes that James will content to unpack his other belongings, but the younger man insists on following Teddy. Teddy manages to break off and shower while James brushes his teeth a mere curtain and a meter away, manages to pull on an old t-shirt and shorts without commenting that he usually sleeps in nothing but his underwear. James doesn't fail to mention it on his own behalf, in fact he crawls onto Teddy's side of the bed in nothing but Teddy's sweater and his boxers (which, upon a vague glance, look suspiciously like Teddy's).

"Don't be shy," James calls from (Teddy's side of) the bed. Teddy realizes that he's spaced, has been standing in his doorway for a whole minute like a fool. His queen sized bed suddenly looks small with James in it.

Despite Teddy's fears and the weird pull in his lower gut, he makes it into his own bed without a world ending catastrophe. The side he's stuck with is firmer, and the slant to his usual spot creates an awkward situation when he begins to slide towards a half asleep James, who groggily smiles at him despite the legs tangled with his own.

Teddy falls asleep with hair in his face and images of freckles emblazed on the insides of his eyelids.


End file.
